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Galileo Galilei, Born 1564, Died 1642. Galileo was an italian scientist who formulated the basic law for falling bodies. He constructed a telescope with which he studied lunar craters, and discovered four moons revolving around jupiter. Galileo espoused the copernican cause.

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.html